Trajectories of three eccentric mergers triggered by a three-body interaction in NSCs (left- and right-hand panels) and GCs (central panel). In the three panels, the systems are centred in the centre of mass of the initial BBH, while the position at which the merger takes place is marked with a white star. The trajectories of the primary and secondary BH of the initial BBH (with mass m₁ and m₂), and the intruder (m₃) are reported in red, blue, and grey, respectively. The incoming direction of the intruder is shown with an arrow. The insets in the left-hand and central panels display a close-up view of the merger region. In the left-hand and central panels, the initial binary is shown edge-on, while in the right-hand panel the view is face-on. The initial coalescence time of these BBHs, i.e. the coalescence time of the initial binary at the beginning of the interaction, is longer than the Hubble time.